Undergarment



May 3,` 1938. J, M NDH 2,116,360

UNDERGARMENT Filed June l5, 1936 llllllllllllllll ,A www JENNY/Ml i /NDH @@MWMM Patented May 3, 1938 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFlCE l 1 Claim. V' (c1. 2478) This invention relates to new and useful improvernents in under garments and more particularly to such garments of the drop seat type.

An object of the present invention is to pro- 5"f vide a garment comprising a drop seat, the upper free edge of which is so connect-ed or secured to the body of the garment that when the drop seat is operated, the strain exerted upon the up-` per edge thereof is uniformly distributed over i the full length of the securing means which secure the upper edge of the drop seat to the body of the garment, whereby damage to thegarment when the drop seat is operated, is minimized.

` A further object of the invention is to provide agarment comprising a drop seat provided at its upper free edge with an elastic tape, the ends of which are secured to the body of the garment at the sides thereof by vertically disposed rows of u stitches or seams, and elastic reinforcing elements, preferably of tape, being secured to the ends of the elastic tape and having their ends secured to the body of the garment by said rows of stitches and serving to uniformly distribute the strain or pull exerted on the elastic tape, over the gffull-length of said rows of stitches, when the drop seat is operated, whereby the danger of tearing or damaging the garment at the points` where the ends of the elastic tape are secured to thebodyof the garment is substantially eliminated.

A further and more specific object is to provide a garment of the character described, comprising a drop seat provided at its upper free edge with an elastic tape having triangularly shaped,

inelastic reinforcing elements suitably secured to or stitched to one of the side faces thereof adjacent its ends, and the ends of said tape and reinforcing elements being suitably secured to the body of the garment at the sides thereof by vertically disposed rows of stitches, and the upper edges of the reinforcing elements tapering downwardly from the upper edge of the elastic tape from points adjacent said rows of stitches, whereby said reinforcing elements overlie greater portions of the elastic tape at the lower portion thereof and render said portions substantially inelastic, whereby when a downward pull is exn erted upon the drop seat to operate it, the strain exerted on said rows of stitches is 'uniformly distributed the full length thereof.

Other objects of the invention will appear from the following description and accompanying drawing and will be pointed out in the annexed claim.

In the accompanying drawing there has been disclosed a structure'designed to carry out the various'objects of the invention, but it is to be understood that the invention is not confined to the exact features shown as various changes may be made within the scope of the claim which 5 follows.

In the drawing:

^ Figure 1 is a rear view of the garment, showing the drop seat in its normal closed position;

Figure 2 is a View of the lower portion of the 10 garment, `showing the drop seat open;

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail View showing the novel-manner of securing the ends of the elastic tapeat the upper ends of the drop seat to the body of the garment; 15

Figure 4 is a similar View partially broken away to more clearly show the manner of securing the elastic tape to the body of the garment; and

Figure 5 is a View showing the position as- 20 sumed by the 'upper edge of the elastic tape adjacent the body of the garment, when a pull is exerted on the drop seat to operate it.

In the selected embodiment of the invention here shown, there is illustrated in Figure 1, a gar- 25 ment comprising a body portion, generally indicated by the numeral 2, and having a drop seat 3 provided at its upper free edge with an elastic tape 4. In the drawing, I have shown the body of the garment provided at its sides with 30 vertically disposed rows of stitching 5, which may extend the full length of the garment.

An important feature of the present invention resides in the novel means provided for securing the ends of the elastic tape 4 to the body of the 35 garment, whereby, when a pull is exerted thereon to operate the drop seat, as shown in Figures 2 and 5, the strain transmitted to the securing means at the ends of the tape will be uniformly distributed thereon so as to reduce to a mini- 40 mum the possibility of damaging the garment at the points where the elastic tape of the drop seat is secured tothe body of the garment.

In the drawing, I have shown the ends of the elastic tape 4 secured to the body of the garment 45 by the rows of stitches 5, as best shown in Figures 3, 4, and 5. Reinforcing elements, generally indicated by the numeral 6, preferably of inelastic tape, are secured to the ends of the tape 4, by suitable stitching l. The ends of the rein 50 forcing elements 6 are coincident with the ends of the elastic tape 4, and are secured to the body of the garment simultaneously therewith by the stitching 5.

The reinforcing elements 6 are so shaped and 55 arranged as to cause the strain exerted on the stitches 5, at the ends of the tape 4, to be uniformly distributed thereon, when the drop seat is operated. To accomplish the above mentioned results, the reinforcing elements are provided with upper inclined edges 8, which taper downwardly from points adjacent the ends of the tape 4 adjacent the stitching 5, at an angle of substantially 45. By thus shaping the reini'orc ing elements 6, they overlie and conceal relatively greater portions of the surface of the elastic tape 4 adjacent its lower edge than at its upper edge. Because of the inelasticity of the reinforcing elements 6, those portions of the elastic tape 4 engaged with the reinforcing elements, are rendered substantially inelastic. The lower edge of the tape 4 is secured to the drop seat 3 in the conventional manner, by suitable stitching 9, capablev of yielding to the stretch of the tape 4, when the drop seat is operated.

When the drop seat is operated, as shown in Figures 2 and 5, and the elastic tape 4 is pulled rearwardly and downwardly to substantially the angle shown in Figure 5, the strain exerted on the stitching 5 securing the ends of the elastic tape 4 to the body of the garment will be substantially along the line a-a, because of the upper edges 8 of the reinforcing elements 6 tapering downwardly and rearwardly, as hereinbefore described. It will also be noted that when the tape 4 is thus pulled downwardly, the upper edge portion I of the tape 4 will curve upwardly or arch, as best shown in Figure 5, whereby the pulling force exerted on the tape 4 will be substantially along the line a-a, thereby causing the strain exerted on the stitching at the ends of the tape to be substantially uniformly distributed thereon the full width of the tape. Thus, it will be seen that by shaping the upper edges of the reinforcing elements, as herein described, the strain imparted to the body of the garment, as a result of downwardly pulling the drop seat to open it, will not be concentrated at the points indicated at Il in Figures 4 and 5, but will be uniformly distributed on the stitching 5 the full width of the ends of the elastic tape 4 and the reinforcing elements 6. Thus, by constructing the drop seat, as herein disclosed, danger of damaging or tearing the'garment at the points I I, when operating the drop seat, is substantially eliminated. It has been found, from actual experience, that a garment having a drop seat Whose upper free edge is secured to the body of the garment, as herein disclosed, will give long service without danger of the garment becoming damaged at the points indicated at Il, whereby the usual life of the garment is prolonged.

In the drawing, I have shown the rows of stitching 5 extending the full length of the garment, but it is to be understood that the ends of the elastic tape 4 may be secured to the body of the garment by other means or independent rows of stitches, without departing from the scope of the invention. The invention is very simple and inexpensive, and may readily be embodied in the construction of a garment of the character disclosed without substantially increasing the cost thereof.

I claim as my invention:

A garment of the class described, comprising a body portion having a drop seat, an elastic tape secur-ed to the upper edge of the drop seat, a vertical row of stitches securing each end of the tape to the body of the garment at the sides thereof, and triangularly shaped, inelastic reinforcing elements overlying the ends of the elastic tape and secured thereto and having their ends secured to the body of the garment by said rows of stitches, the upper edges of said reinforcing tapes tapering downwardly and rearwardly from points adjacent said rows of stitches, whereby relatively greater portions of the lower portion of said elastic tape adjacent to said rows of stitches is rendered inelastic, so that when a pull is exerted on the drop seat to pull it downwardly, the upper edge portions of said elastic tape adjacent to said rows of stitches may stretch to a greater degree than the lower edge portion thereof directly therebeneath, whereby strain exerted on the elastic tape of the drop seat to pull it downwardly, will cause the end portions of the elastic tape to -arch upwardly' adjacent to the upper inclined edges of said reinforcing elements, whereby the pull exerted on the reinforcing elements is uniformly distributed over all of the stitches securing said elements to the body of the garment.

JENNY M. LI'NDH. 

